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(No Model.)

H. G. STREAT. BICYCLE URATE.

10.555.833 Patented Mar. s, 1896.

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HERBERT G. STREAT, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

BICYCLEHCRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part oi Letters Patent No. 555,833, dated March 3, 1896..

Application iilcd September 4, 1895. Serial No. 561,412. (No model.)

.To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT G. S'rnnar, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New i. ork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bicycle-Crates, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the same.

The present extended use of bicycles and their frequent shipment by rail or boat between distant points visited by their owners involve considerable difliculty, annoyance, and expense in providing suitable cases or crates for their protection in transit; but, so far as I am aware, there is no device known or used for this purpose except the ordinary crate put together with nails or screws, or cumbersome boxes or cases, in which the ma chinos are inclosed. It was the very urgent need of some more convenient and durable form of packing-case for shipping bicycles that led me to devise the collapsible or knockdown crate for this purpose which forn s the subject of my present application.

I am aware that in a broad sense such devices are not new with me. In other words, boxes, cases, and, in general, crates for protecting various articles in transportation by steamer or railroad have been made in detachable or articulated sections, so as to be capable of being reduced, when not used for their intended purpose, to small compass. My invention, however, resides in the improvements which I have devised in a crate more particularlyadapted to receive a bicycle or similar machine and the novel structural features by which the greater eflicacy, convenience, and economy of the device are secured.

'lhe improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure lis a side elevation of my device in condition for use. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the crate in a partially-collapsed condition. Fig. 3 is a detail of construction.

Fig. l represents the form of a completed crate as it is usually constructed by nailing or screwing together pieces of wood. Considering such a crate as the device to which my improvements apply, I hinge together the four sides A B C D by the inside hinges d l) c d. I also divide the two sides of shorter length A B at or about their centers and hinge the two parts together by hinges e f. Next I make the two cross-bars E F detachable from the sides, forming them with suitable clips or connecting devices, hereinafter described, and, finally, I make the diagonal braces G II detachable in the same manner as the crossbars E F.

From the construction illustrated it will be seen that by detaching the cross-bars and braces the outer frame maybe collapsed and packed into small compass, as indicated in Fig. 2, and all the parts may be tied together in a compact bundle, to be restored at any time, without trouble or expense, to the condition of a complete crate.

As I understand the prior state of the art, my improvement includes any means of attaching or connecting together the parts of the frame that will permit the frame parts to be folded or otherwise compacted, and with the result of making a rigid crate when eX- panded. I have, therefore, illustrated but one way, the best now known to me of' eiecting this purpose.

To each end oi' the cross-bars or braces is permanently secured a metal plate g. The end of the plate is bent at right angles at a point distant from the end of the wooden bar about equal to the thickness of the boards constituting the sides, and so as to make a tightiitting union between the two. This union is rendered more secure, however, by providing the under side of the metal plates, which are to a sufficient extent resilient, with projections which slip into corresponding indentations on the sides of the frame, as indicated in Fig. 3.

The bicycle is packed for shipment in this crate in the ordinary manner, the cross-bars taking the hubs, and the braces taking the saddle or saddle-post and the head, respect* ively, as indicated in Fig. l.

Having now described my invention and illustrated the prefered manner in which the same is or may be carried out, what I claim is l. A collapsible crate ior bicycles composed of a four-sided frame, the sides of which are jointed together at the corners, in combination with cross-bars E, F, detachably secured IOO upon either side of the shorter lengths A, B, at a point to support the bicycle and hold the frame in expanded position, as set forth.

2. A collapsible crate for bicycles having,` the four sides of the frame jointed together at the corners an d at two opposite centra-l points on its ends, in combination with crossbars E, F, detachably secured upon either side of the ends A, B, at a point to support the bicycle, and detachable diagonal braces G, H, having one of their ends detachably secured to the side C and the other end similarly secured to the shorter end A, substantially as set forth.

3. A collapsible crate for bicycles composed of four-sided frame secured at the corners by hinges, two of the opposite sides being also hinged at or near their centers, in combination with cross-bars E, F and the diagonal braces G, Il, arranged to support the bicycle when placed in the crate said cross-bars and braces being,` provided with catches for engaging with the sides and when in such engagement forming a rigid frame or crate for con taining a bicycle in substantially the manner herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 3d day of September, 1895.

HERBERT G. STREAT. Witnesses ERNEST HoPKINsoN, Roer. F. GAYLORD. 

